SOOO FLUFFY!
by Sorrow has a Human Heart
Summary: Yuna goes on vacation, and finds that she just can't help but indulge in a guilty pleasure.  Set after events of FFX-2, no good/ perfect ending.


**A/N: This was partially inspired by a line in the adorable new movie, "Despicable Me". Aside from that...it's just a happy product of an twisted, obsessive mind. **

**Disclaimer 1) The characters and such don't belong to me. You don't want to know what would happen if they did, so let's just leave it at that.**

**Disclaimer 2) I will not be held legally responsible for any sudden urges or compulsions my readers have to buy a puppy, or to pet random strangers.  
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"**SOOO FLUFFY!"**

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A vacation: Yuna needed one desperately. Saving the world more than once in five years does that to a person, so when she and Rikku heard that a new water park had opened in the Calm Lands, no questions were asked. Unfortunately, as the fickle finger of Fate would have it, just after dropping them off in Besaid, Brother had finally managed to crash the Celsius. It had landed near Djose, doing some considerable damage to the temple. He was hospitalized with scratches, bruises, and what appeared to be multiple mortar wounds, but neither Shinra, Buddly, Paine, nor Barkeep cared to comment on that. Their immediate concern was helping to repair the Machine Factions' HQ, lest they wind up in a similar disposition. As much of a let-down as it was, the cousins would have to make their trip the old fashioned way, on ground, by sea, and by Shoopuf.

Of all the travel annoyances, Shoopuf travels down and across the Moonflow were not one of them, as far as Yuna was concerned. They made her feel like a little kid again, although she wasn't sure that she'd get away with diving into the water and coaxing the gentle beast to scoop her back up. No, sadly, she was an adult now, and the Hypello driver would likely be far less pleased with such antics. And who knew if the Shoopuf would even be able to play with her like that anymore. It was older, and even with as petite as she was, she weighed a little more than twice what she did back then. A Shoopuf with a broken nose would not be a happy Shoopuf at all. With a sad, nostalgic sigh and smile, Yuna resigned herself to the more mature feats of simply enjoying the breeze and slight rocking created by paddling hooves.

But, alas, Spira was becoming a more and more entertaining place by the day, thus it was no surprise when yet another opportunity for mischief so graciously presented itself.

"Ohh, Yunie, look who's here!" Rikku exclaimed, bouncing and pointing to a dozing passenger seated across from them.

"Hm? Oh, it's Baralai. He must be on the way back from Luca. He looks tired. Maybe we should leave him alone?"

"Aw, come on, Yunie! Don't you at least want to talk? You know, get to know him a little better?" Rikku crooned, eager for a show.

"Wha-what do you mean?" Yuna asked, blushing tomato red, already well aware that her not-so-subtle up and down glances in his direction had been busted by her nosy cousin.

"Let's face it, he _is_ kinda your type. Not all that hard to look at either, but I like mine a little livelier, you know what I mean?"

"Well, I guess….maybe I could go say 'hi' or something…yeah…." Yuna mumbled, squirming uncomfortably.

For Yuna had a dirty little secret. Well, maybe not "dirty" in the traditional sense of the word, but it definitely fell on the eccentric, obsessive-compulsive side. Anything soft, silky, fuzzy, or smooth, she just couldn't help but want to touch. It was almost bad enough to be called a fetish. Actually, it was probably a little worse than that. There was a time when Lulu had caught her red handed "petting" the collar of one of her more worn-out black mage dresses. Then, there was that time when Rikku had woken up to find Yuna stroking her face up against the end of her scarf. And who would ever forget that time in the heat of battle, back when she was still a summoner, when she became too distracted by the texture of Shiva's sarong to give the aeon battle orders? Almost the same thing happened again, two years later, when she first equipped the Trainer's dress sphere. Yuna was so preoccupied with Kogoro's magically soft fur that she had narrowly escaped being mauled into Behemoth cuisine!

But all those little incidents didn't hold a candle to this, and the horrible temptation that lay vulnerable before her. It was a special kind of soft, just by appearance alone. Shaggy, and yet somehow well-kept at the same time, feathery locks gracefully piled one upon another with the support of his headband, Baralai's hair was quite possibly her undoing. There were so many ways she could take advantage of it—smoothing it, fluffing it, running her fingers through the semi-long platinum strands, or simply making a horrible mess of it, so that he'd have no choice but to let her fix it back up again. And to further convince her into executing all of those peculiar fantasies, it was also shiny. Granted, shiny was Rikku's favorite "color", but Yuna didn't hold anything against it at the moment.

Ignoring Rikku's obvious glee, Yuna carefully settled herself beside the snoozing Praetor, studying his face and breathing to be sure that he was completely asleep. Then, certain that it was safe, she slowly lifted a hand, fingertips just barely daring to pet the side of Baralai's head. It was everything she had imagined, and so much more. Unlike cloth or fur, his hair felt so natural, so alive—it was almost like it was petting her fingers instead. Eyes half closed and grinning in perverse, obsessed bliss, Yuna sank her fingers deeper into the downy locks, enamored with the silvery reflection of sunlight they produced as she combed through them.

"Ahh…you're sooo fluffy…." Yuna cooed, now completely ignorant of everything else around her.

"Oh, Yunie, not this again, please…" Rikku whined in response.

However, what neither one of them knew was that Baralai was not a very heavy sleeper. In fact, he had been just waking up when he heard Rikku challenging Yuna to show an interest. Severely curious to see what the High Summoner would do with such a dare, he had continued to feign sleep and that quite successfully. When he'd felt the cushion beside him depress, he was waiting for a shy, meager "hello", but certainly not this! Now, what to do with such a brash, daring invasion of his self? Lady Yuna's uninvited ministrations with his hair certainly didn't hurt; in fact, once he got past the initial surprise, he found them to be quite pleasant, and surmised that she might be rather talented in certain massage techniques. At least, his scalp seemed to believe that to be the case. It would do no harm to allow her to enjoy herself for a few more minutes, but not without a price.

It amazed Baralai how such a simple thing held every ounce of Yuna's attention, but this was to his advantage. Curled up right next to his supposedly limp hand was the end of her long braid, just begging to be used as a tool for her victim's revenge. Inch by inch, he wrapped the end of it around his palm, and smirked as subtly as possible. She should only be allowed to believe that he was dreaming pleasant things for her insistence on petting him. Truthfully, if he were actually asleep, that might not be so inaccurate, would it?

"Okay, look Yuna, we're almost to the other side, so how about you just let him rest like you said?"

Rikku begged, nearly mortified at the thought of what might happen if he woke up to that.

Yuna sighed. All good things must have an end, and this was where she would have to bid farewell to this luxurious, soft, silky, pretty one. Retracting her guilty hand, she took one final survey of the man, who looked to be nothing short of content. Maybe Rikku was right. Maybe she would visit Bevelle at one point or another, and have a talk with him. And possibly sedate him, so that she could do this again. Without a doubt, she was addicted.

"I guess so, but he doesn't seem unhappy." Yuna casually defended herself.

"Yeah, well, it's not like he knows any better." Rikku countered, increasingly anxious with her cousin's stalling.

"Still…so, so fluffy!" Yuna half-whispered, while Rikku could only groan at the picture perfect example of weird hopelessness.

Rising from her place beside Baralai, Yuna stretched and took a step forward. Behind her, he tightened his grip on the end of her braid, and gave it a quick, sudden jerk as she stepped again, sending her tumbling backward, right onto his lap. Startled and embarrassed, she attempted to make a quick escape, completely ready to offer her apologies and even payment for disturbing his Shoopuf ride, but found that his arms had firmly locked her in against him. Her fluffy, feathery, fixated daydream had just turned into a nightmare of becoming his overgrown human plushie!

Unless…

No, it couldn't be…

Of all the horrors…

But his tell-tale, quiet, arrogant chuckle confirmed it-

Baralai was awake! Awake, and Yuna was sure that she was about to die of humiliation. And frustration! Why wouldn't he let go? And why, why, why couldn't she just learn a little restraint? If she could have resisted the urge just this once, she wouldn't be in this awkward mess!

"Lady Yuna, if you wished to talk, all you had to do was ask." He purred into her ear, and then shoved her back onto her feet.

If Baralai's cocky, knowing smile and Rikku's sudden inability to breathe for how bad she was cracking up was any indicator, this was going to be one hell of a vacation.


End file.
